After what seems like forever, Florida's very own, Mercury Program have returned. Having disappeared sometime around 2003 after their second full length album, just about all hope was lost. But the band as recently as last year started to tinker with the idea of writing songs again and that tinkering eventually resulted in the recording of their latest album Chez Viking. It's a welcome return that shows that The Mercury Program have reached a point in their career where making technical and intricate tunes almost seems effortless and like second nature to them.
Perhaps sounding a bit like Florida's answer to Aloha, The Mercury Program are essentially a jazz combo with indie rock leanings. What's that mean? Well, imagine a group of highly skilled and thoughtful musicians who clearly know how to play their instruments very, very well but are unafraid to rough things up a bit and get loud. If you can wrap your ears around that then you can kind of see where The Mercury Program are coming from. Listening to Chez Vikingis essentially like listening to some sort of jazz fusion record played with such precision and accuracy that the notes almost seem airtight and vacuum packed. These guys are amazing and I can't help but thinking this is like the best Pat Metheney album never recorded.
Having spent some quality time with this release, it's hard to believe they've been gone for so long because not one note of this album reflects that. Chez Viking is an exceptionally deft, intricate, and challenging album that is loaded with complex riffs and surprisingly good songs. This is a heck of a comeback album to say the least and with that being said, it's awesome to have one of the best Florida bands back in action. If you love elaborate music that's sophisticated and one step away from being proper jazz, you'll love The Mercury Program and you'll find Chez Viking a stunning modern work.
No comments:
Post a Comment